Irene leaves thousands without power, damage across Mass.

Hurricane Irene came and went Sunday, but its effect lingered Monday, leaving at least a half million people in Massachusetts without power.

David Riley

Hurricane Irene came and went Sunday, but its effect lingered Monday, leaving at least a half million people in Massachusetts without power.

A little more than 250,000 people still had no electricity as of Tuesday morning, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA).

That was down from 700,000 people whose power failed at the storm’s peak, Gov. Deval Patrick said on Monday.

Speaking from the MEMA headquarters in Framingham, the governor warned people to be careful while emergency responders and road crews clean up.

“Because there are so many downed limbs, there are a lot of downed wires,” Patrick said. “People should treat wires as if they were live, with an excess of caution.”

Patrick also urged people to check on elderly or vulnerable neighbors to make sure they got through the storm.

Thus far, only one death has been reported as a result of Irene – a Southbridge man was electrocuted when he touched a porch railing in contact with a downed wire at his home, MEMA spokesman Scott MacLeod said.

The governor credited emergency responders for the fact that there were not more injuries or deaths.

Utilities asked customers to be patient. National Grid said while its crews are working around the clock, it could take until the weekend to restore power to all customers in the hardest-hit parts of the state.

NStar said it had 200,000 customers without power on Monday afternoon and many could remain without electricity for days. The number had dropped to 84,000 on Tuesday morning.

Among them are about 25,000 South Shore customers, 16,000 on Cape Cod, 15,000 in MetroWest and 9,000 in towns surrounding Walpole, NStar said.

Patrick toured storm damage in western Massachusetts on Monday morning and described flooding in hill towns along the Greenfield, Connecticut and Green rivers.

Across the state, more than 300 people spent the night at 28 emergency shelters, MacLeod said. Patrick said those shelters remained active on Monday.

Residents in need of shelter should call 211 for non-emergency information and help. For a full list of shelters, visit mass.gov/mema and click on the link for regional Red Cross shelters in the center section of the webpage.

The state had 15 rapid reconnaissance teams assessing damage across Massachusetts, visiting about 75 communities on Monday, MacLeod said.

“We have teams out as far as Adams in the Berkshires and folks as far down as Buzzards Bay,” he said.

Patrick said it was too early to estimate the cost of damage statewide. MacLeod said early estimates would likely come in Tuesday.

Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm when it arrived in Massachusetts. Spotters for the National Weather Service reported wind gusts upward of 60 mph in Chatham, Fall River and Plymouth in the late afternoon.

The Weather Service also recorded unofficial readings of wind gusts of 58 mph in Brookline and Rockport, 56 mph in Hingham and Scituate, 66 mph in Norwood and 51 mph in Bedford.

The National Weather Service office in Taunton said the peak wind gust of the storm in Massachusetts was recorded at the Blue Hills Observatory in Milton – 82 mph.

Rainfall totals were as little as an inch or less along Cape Cod and the islands, and between 2 and 5 inches from I-495 west, the Weather Service reported. Rain was heaviest west of I-91, ranging from 6 to 9½ inches.

Also speaking at MEMA on Monday, Mass. Bay Transportation Authority General Manager Richard Davey said he believed shutting down public transit on Sunday was the right decision. Service resumed this morning.

Davey recalled seeing a photo of a tree that fell on an MBTA bus stop and said he was grateful no one was there to be hurt.

“The message was for people to stay home,” he said of the decision.

(David Riley can be reached at 508-626-3919 or driley@wickedlocal.com.)

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